DAILY NEWS

Daily News – 28 December 2021 (Tue)

Singapore Real Estate

Pandemic-wary workers to drive demand for Grade A space as they gradually return to offices
Brighter days may lie ahead for office landlords here. Commenting on the outlook for its Singapore office portfolio, which is concentrated in the Central Business District (CBD), the manager of Suntec Reit said in its third quarter 2021 update that rent recovery will continue, supported by limited new supply and demand from growth sectors such as technology, media, telecom, financial services and health-care related.
https://www.businesstimes.com.sg/real-estate/pandemic-wary-workers-to-drive-demand-for-grade-a-space-as-they-gradually-return-to

Highest Singapore rents in 6 years fuel expat housing woes
[Singapore] Singapore residents bemoaning expensive home prices now have something else to worry about: rising rents. Rents have jumped to a 6-year high, and analysts anticipate further increases as demand outweighs supply.
https://www.businesstimes.com.sg/real-estate/highest-singapore-rents-in-6-years-fuel-expat-housing-woes
https://www.straitstimes.com/business/property/highest-singapore-rents-in-6-years-add-to-expat-housing-woes

Rise in HDB resale prices to ease next year from property cooling measures: Analysts
Singapore – Home buyers deterred by high Housing Board (HDB) resale flat prices may have a better shot at securing a unit next year, given that new property cooling measures are widely expected to dampen the red-hot market.
https://www.straitstimes.com/singapore/housing/rise-in-hdb-resale-prices-to-ease-next-year-from-property-cooling-measures-analysts

Building firms get ‘final’ 2-month extension of Covid-19 relief from contractual obligations
Singapore – Construction companies in Singapore will get an additional two-month reprieve from legal and enforcement action for their building and supply contracts. The relief period will be extended until Feb 28 next year.
https://www.straitstimes.com/singapore/housing/building-firms-get-final-2-month-extension-of-covid-19-relief-periods-from-contractual-obligations

Singapore Economy

Hotel occupancy, RevPAR in November highest since pandemic hit
The Singapore hotel sector has recorded its highest occupancy rates and revenue per available room (RevPAR) since the Covid-19 pandemic decimated the tourism industry. That’s as the Republic welcomed 41,140 visitors in November, nearly double the 23,980 seen in the month before, the latest figures from the Singapore Tourism Board (STB) showed.
https://www.businesstimes.com.sg/government-economy/hotel-occupancy-revpar-in-november-highest-since-pandemic-hit

S’pore will be reliant on local tourism demand for ‘some time’: STB chief
Singapore – If there had been no local tourism in the last two years, hotels and attractions here would have been wiped out. However, for tour operators that changed their formats successfully, business in the past two years was even better than before the pandemic, said Singapore Tourism Board (STB) chief executive Keith Tan.
https://www.straitstimes.com/singapore/consumer/stb-chief-well-be-reliant-on-local-tourism-demand-for-some-time

5 trends that shaped Singapore business and the economy in 2021
Singapore – From Delta to Omicron and several rounds of safe distancing restrictions that weighed on business and jobs, Singapore continued to respond to the uncertainties wrought by Covid-19 this year. Border restrictions and upheavals in the global logistics and supply chain led to disruptions in the flow of talent and goods into Singapore, resulting in delays to property project roll-outs and a spike in electricity prices.
https://www.straitstimes.com/business/economy/5-trends-that-shaped-singapore-business-and-the-economy-in-2021

Companies’ Brief

US Bankruptcy Court confirms EHT’s Chapter 11 plan to liquidate entities
The United States Bankruptcy Court has entered an order confirming the Chapter 11 plan to liquidate entities of troubled Eagle Hospitality Trust (EHT), following a confirmation hearing held on Dec 20, 2021. EHT is a stapled trust comprising Eagle Hospitality Reit (EH-Reit) and the currently dormant Eagle Hospitality Business Trust (EH-BT).
https://www.businesstimes.com.sg/companies-markets/us-bankruptcy-court-confirms-ehts-chapter-11-plan-to-liquidate-entities

Views, Reviews, Forum & Others

Outperformance, SPACs, diversity – a market wish list for 2022
As a difficult year nears an end, it is timely to indulge in a spot of wishful thinking as far as what the next year might hold in store for local stock market investors. No doubt most players will want economies to continue their post-pandemic recovery, for the threat from Covid variants to peter out, and for equities to outperform as they have done for the better part of the past 10 years.
https://www.businesstimes.com.sg/opinion/outperformance-spacs-diversity-a-market-wish-list-for-2022

The fight for your digital wallet
The monetary landscape is being transformed by an increasingly aggressive fight for your digital wallet. What started slowly with Bitcoin in 2008 and gained traction with Facebook’s Libra in 2019 has now become an inevitable reality: private digital currencies are here to stay.
https://www.businesstimes.com.sg/opinion/the-fight-for-your-digital-wallet

Imagining a global digital order
Although the digital revolution is now decades old, there still is no global digital economic order. Instead, there are competing visions of digital capitalism, predominantly articulated by the United States, China and the European Union, which have been developing their models for many years and are increasingly exporting them to developing and emerging economies.
https://www.straitstimes.com/opinion/imagining-a-global-digital-order

Driven by e-commerce, Asean’s digital economy growth to keep weighing on supply chains
The blistering speed at which Asean’s digital economy is expected to continue growing – supported in large part by e-commerce – will continue to place strains on supply chains in the coming years. But companies are better placed to tackle fresh challenges, according to experts The Business Times spoke with.
https://www.businesstimes.com.sg/asean-business/driven-by-e-commerce-aseans-digital-economy-growth-to-keep-weighing-on-supply-chains

Will Singapore set a timeline for net zero?
An upgrade of national emissions targets will be a closely watched item on Singapore’s climate agenda next year. Could a “net zero” pledge be on the cards? Singapore has only committed to halve emissions from its peak by 2050, with a view to achieving net zero emissions “as soon as viable in the second half of the century”.
https://www.businesstimes.com.sg/energy-commodities/will-singapore-set-a-timeline-for-net-zero

What else to watch out for on Singapore’s climate agenda
Carbon tax review: Singapore will announce a revised carbon tax rate for 2024 in its budget next year. Singapore was the first South-east Asian nation to introduce a carbon levy in 2019, but the current rate of S$5 per tonne of carbon dioxide is far lower than most jurisdictions.
https://www.businesstimes.com.sg/energy-commodities/what-else-to-watch-out-for-on-singapores-climate-agenda

Update on COVID-19 (Coronavirus Disease 2019) Situation

Singapore must expect new wave of Covid-19 cases in coming days due to Omicron: Lawrence Wong
[Singapore] Singapore must expect a new wave of Covid-19 cases in the coming days and weeks, said Finance Minister Lawrence Wong. “It is inevitable that Omicron will spread in our community as it has in countries everywhere,” said Mr Wong, who co-chairs the multi-ministry task force on Covid-19, in a Facebook post on Monday (Dec 27).
https://www.businesstimes.com.sg/government-economy/singapore-must-expect-new-wave-of-covid-19-cases-in-coming-days-due-to-omicron
https://www.straitstimes.com/singapore/health/spore-must-expect-new-wave-of-covid-19-cases-in-coming-days-due-to-omicron-lawrence-wong

About 52,000 employees remain unvaccinated against Covid-19 in Singapore
Singapore – Around 52,000 employees in Singapore have not taken any Covid-19 vaccine, the Ministry of Manpower (MOM) said on Monday (Dec 27). Around 6,700 are aged 60 and above, and are at a very high risk of severe illness or death from Covid-19 infection, it added.
https://www.straitstimes.com/singapore/jobs/about-52000-employees-remain-unvaccinated-against-covid-19-in-singapore

Travellers from 10 African countries can now enter, transit through Singapore
Singapore – Travellers from Botswana, Eswatini, Ghana, Lesotho, Malawi, Mozambique, Namibia, Nigeria, South Africa and Zimbabwe can now enter Singapore after the authorities on Sunday (Dec 26) lifted a travel ban.
https://www.straitstimes.com/singapore/transport/travellers-from-10-african-countries-can-now-enter-transit-through-singapore

*For more information, please visit the Ministry of Health (MOH) website at www.moh.gov.sg and refer to go.gov.sg/mohupdates for updates on the COVID-19 (Coronavirus Disease 2019) situation